Caterpillar Stock Hit a Record Wednesday—AI Had a Lot To Do With It

Caterpillar (CAT) shares skyrocketed to an all-time high when the big farm and construction machines maker easily beat profit and sales expectations, with strong demand for data center power-generation equipment more than offsetting tariff headwinds.

The company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $4.95, about 10% above what analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha were looking for. Revenue increased 9.5% to $17.64 billion, $1 billion above forecasts.

All three of Caterpillar’s segments posted gains, but the Energy and Transportation unit was the big story, with sales jumping 17% to $8.4 billion. Within the energy segment, power generation sales surged 31%, easily outpacing other applications. Sales rose 7% to $6.76 billion in Caterpillar's Construction Industries segment, and increased 2% to $3.11 billion in Resource Industries.

In a call with analysts, CEO Joe Creed said the strong results this quarter were "driven by resilient demand and focused execution across our three primary segments," according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense. Creed also said tariff costs were at the top end of the company's estimate of $500 million to $600 million, but even with that headwind, “adjusted operating profit margin was slightly above our expectation, primarily due to better than expected sales volume."

Shares of Caterpillar were up 12% in midday trading on Wednesday and are up more than 60% in 2025. 

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